Keith Baker - The Shattered Land

“Four hundred feet below us.”

Lei blinked. “In this field?”

“Beneath this field, yes.”

“Is there some sort of secret passage?”

“No.” Lakashtai looked at Lei. “You will take us there. I can show you the path; can you not craft a device that can transport us across this space?”

“I …” Lei looked away, and Daine could almost hear the thoughts racing in her head. “I understand the basic principles that govern the movement of motion, but to transport all of us at once-I’ve never tried to channel that level of power before. If my calculations are wrong, or if I lose control of the threads … it could be dangerous.”

Daine sighed. “How dangerous?”

“If we’re lucky, the energy I’m binding would be released in a burst of light and heat-like a charge from a fire wand.” “And if you’re unlucky?”

“We’re transported somewhere else. Into solid rock, or perhaps four hundred feet up instead of four hundred feet down.”

Daine glanced at the sky. “Well, at least the weather’s good for it. Lakashtai, you’re certain this is the only way to do this?”

“Yes, I believe that it is. Your only hope lies in Karul’tash, and if Hassalac does not have this map, we have no idea as to its whereabouts. In my weakened condition, it may only be a matter of days before Tashana overcomes the defenses I have woven and shatters your mind.”

Daine turned to face Lei, placing his hands on her shoulders. She met his gaze, and he could see the fear in her eyes. “You’ve risked your life for me just by coming here. I can’t ask you to do it again.”

“You didn’t ask me the first time,” she said softly. “It’s my choice. I’m not going to let you die.” She looked away. “Now let me get to work.”

She sat down on the rough earth and produced an assortment of crystals and wooden rods, which she spread out across the ground in from of her. Slowly she began to whisper, channeling the essence of magic with thought, gesture, and sound.

Daine watched her work. There was a chill in his heart he’d never felt in battle. She can do this. She’s never failed before . “Any other surprises, Lakashtai?”

“None. We go to the vault and find the map. No doubt Hassalac will have defenses in the vault, but hidden as it is, I doubt that he expects too many people to enter the vault directly. Gerrion will be waiting at the harbor with a boat prepared to sail as soon as we are on board. He takes us along the coast, and we land as near to Karul’tash as possible. Now you know the extent of my plans.”

Daine nodded, his eyes on Lei.

“I’m done,” she said, and Daine felt a weight lifted from his chest. “I think … if something was going to go wrong, it would have. Gather around. You’ll need to be touching me for this to work. And Lakashtai, I need the precise distance.”

Daine drew his sword. “Pierce, flail ready. No telling what’s waiting there for us.”

Each of the travelers placed a hand on Lei’s shoulders. Green light flashed from Lakashtai’s eyes; Lei’s brow furrowed for an instant, and she nodded.

They vanished.

It was pitch black.

Should have seen that coming, Daine thought. Why leave lamps on for the thieves? “Light,” he murmured, loud enough for Lei to hear. He heard the whisper as she wove temporary cold fire into her staff, but before this enchantment took hold, the area was filled with a pale green radiance. Glancing over, Daine saw that Lakashtai’s eyes were shining like beacons, casting a cone of emerald light before her. “That’s … disturbing,” he said, keeping his voice low.

To his surprise, she winked at him, causing a temporary flicker of light.

They were standing in a vast cavern, far larger than the audience chamber they had seen earlier. To their right, tall shelves were lined with small chests and loose dragon scales; Daine recognized the casket that held the blue scale shield. The shelves to the left held books-but books unlike any Daine had ever seen. Most were three feet in height, with a width to match. These tomes were bound in lizardskin or thick leather, but most were crumbling with age.

“Giants,” Lei whispered. “These must have been written by giants before the fall of Xen’drik.”

“Which one has our map?” Daine said. “Tell me we don’t have to read until we find it.”

“The map we seek is not bound by leather and ink.” Lakashtai glanced along the shelves, sweeping the cone of light across rows of books and long leather tubes that probably held enormous scrolls. “It is a large translucent crystal, about three feet in diameter. It must be elsewhere in this chamber.”

Daine nodded. “Lei, Pierce-on point. Slow.”

They crept down the aisle. Lei stayed just ahead of Pierce, and Daine wondered what she saw as she studied the currents of arcane energy. Moments passed before an end to the aisle came into view. They had come to the edge of the room, and a narrow corridor ran alongside the stone wall of the cavern. Lei paused at the edge in the intersection, kneeling down and passing her hand over the floor.

“What have you discovered?” Pierce asked.

Lei frowned. “There’s a symbol here, a glyph of tremendous power. Set this off and you’d be dead in an instant-it would be like a hurricane blowing out a candle.”

“Can you break it?” Daine said.

“Never, but … it’s already been triggered. It’s strange-it looks like it was set off, but there aren’t any corpses.”

Daine’s grip tightened on the hilt of his sword. “So we’re not alone?”

“It really depends how long it takes for the energy in the seal to rebuild itself. Perhaps intruders were in here earlier, and the guards already removed the bodies.”

“Perhaps. We need to be prepared. Lakashtai … can you link our minds again?”

Certainly . The thought blossomed in Daine’s mind.

Good. Lei-left. Careful and quiet .

They crept along the edge of the wall, slipping past rows of giant shelves. Up ahead, the labyrinth of shelves came to an end, opening into a wide chamber; Daine caught a glimpse of shattered statues and other large relics, but a sudden stop from Pierce brought them to a halt.

There. At the corner of the last shelf. Blood .

It could barely be seen in the magical light, but Pierce’s eyes were keen. There was a dark stain at the base of the last shelf, just intruding into the corridor, a pool of dried blood.

Daine stepped forward, drawing his dagger. Lei, is the hallway clear to that point?

I … I think so .

Daine took his place next to Pierce. Stand ready , he thought.

He tumbled forward, executing a low roll that would hopefully drop him below the line of anyone who might be waiting with weapon in hand. He darted out beyond the shelves, coming to a halt behind a massive foot formed of blue marble-apparently, the last remnant of a colossal monument. Spinning around, he searched the hall for any sign of enemies, but there were none to be seen.

No living enemies, at least.

It’s safe , he thought, stepping out from his cover. Come take a look at this .

Two corpses were spread across the floor of the chamber. They were two of Hassalac’s reptilian guards-possibly the same two that had escorted Daine and Lakashtai earlier in the day, but the damage made it impossible to tell.

“Merciful Arawai,” Lei whispered, dropping to one knee to study the closer of the two corpses. “What could do something like this?”

Barely half of the creature’s body was left. It was as if it had stumbled into a wall of whirling razors-a force that had shredded flesh, bone, and chainmail with equal ease, scattering the remains in a bloody circle almost ten feet in diameter. The stench was awful.